Jason Tatum He is coming off the best year of his young career, but falling two wins away from the ring has left him hungry enough to take another step forward.
“I didn’t feel like talking to anyone. He didn’t feel bothered. It’s hard to explain if you’ve never been in this situation, but to lose a championship was miserable.” he told Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix in a pre-course report.
At the team level, Tatum was already in the Eastern Conference Finals three times in five seasons, and finally overcame that hurdle to reach the last rung he was missing the previous year. On an individual level, the striker was already 3-time All-Star and 2-time All-NBA.
At 24, with a resume like that, there are only two things left to achieve: a ring and an MVP. And Tatum wants both in this campaign.
The Celtics entered the 2022-2023 season as title favorites, while their star is looking to earn the honor of being considered the league’s best player.
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How Jayson Tatum Became an MVP Candidate
Through the first 18 games of the season, Boston has the best record in the NBA and Tatum is average True Shooting Percentage 30.6 ppg (real shot) of 62.1%, which are personal highs.
Enter Tatum out of season with a hyper-focus on being stronger on the ball, finishing with contact at the rim and getting to the free throw line more often. Amplifying those weaknesses took him from a top scorer to a near unstoppable one.
He’s averaging career-highs in points in the paint (10.8) and free throws (8.8) while scoring best in the box and at the rim.
| Time | dots in color | free throws attempted | Hitting in the restricted area | success in painting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-2018 | 5.0 | 3.2 | 58.9 | 27.8 |
| 2018-2019 | 6.3 | 2.9 | 63.1 | 37.8 |
| 2019-2020 | 8.6 | 4.7 | 59.3 | 37.6 |
| 2020-2021 | 9.9 | 5.3 | 68.1 | 38.8 |
| 2021-2022 | 10.1 | 6.2 | 68.0 | 40.3 |
| 2022-2023 | 10.6 | 8.5 | 75.0 | 40.4 |
The forward has realized how physically imposing he can be in his own right departments, but his development in those areas is far from just using his body to go to hoops. Prior to this season, Tatum had a history of breaking away without much planning or reading, settling for bad throws or forcing unnecessary actions.
This year he was much more patient with his raids, playing at a better pace and controlling the body to finish at the basket.
His handling seems quicker and more consistent, adding even more movement to his game to create the necessary separation on jump shots or dribbling past his opponent at the rim.
And he’s done a terrific job keeping opposing defenses on the ball for his next move.
In fact, Tatum added one to his game floating more than interesting:
His maturation as a scorer has been remarkable this season, but his improvement on the defensive end has been just as impressive. Pair with Kevin Durant in his first round Playoffs 2022 was his letter of introduction as an elite quarterback, but Tatum was done one of the biggest threats on both sides of the NBA today.
The Celtics player is average 1.2 capsules per nightcareer high, and his 23 total blocks are on par with some of the league’s best rim protectors such as Jarrett Allen (20), Joel Embiid (21), Rudy Gobert (22) and Evan Mobley (26) . ).
He’s already dropped several crucial defensive plays late in games this season, and while the Celtics’ defense hasn’t been as impressive as last year (with Robert Williams III still debuting), Tatum has taken on far more responsibilities per matchup. stars like Luka Doncic, DeMar Derozan or CJ McCollum.
From the moment his outstanding rookie season ended, it was clear that Tatum had the potential to become one of the best players in the NBA at some point. He started to earn the league’s respect last postseason, but a poor showing in the Finals seemed to take him down.
He used this failure as fuel during his out of season and as the catalyst for the best team in the league this season, Tatum has established himself as the big contender for the MVP while the Celtics they are looking for the 18th ring.
The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of the NBA or its organizations.
